Abstract
The FAIR-2 (‘Frankfurter Aufmerksamkeitsinventar’) is a pen-and-paper test of visual attention in which participants have to search for targets among distractors. For similar pen-and-paper tests of attention (e.g., d2), the repetition of the test causes large improvements in performance that threaten both its (retest) reliability and validity. We investigated the size and possible sources of practice effects in the FAIR-2 in three experiments. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants were tested twice using the original FAIR-2. We compared how performance changed after 2 weeks (Experiment 1) or 3 months (Experiment 2), when the test was repeated (complete repetition), or when targets and distractors changed their roles (test reversal). For Experiment 3, we used self-constructed versions of the FAIR that allowed for a third neutral condition (complete alternation) without any stimulus overlap between the two tests. The complete repetition condition produced strong performance gains (25–35%) that persisted for 3 months. For the complete-alternation condition, we observed small to moderate improvements, suggesting that stimulus-independent learning had occurred in session 1. Finally, performance did not differ between test reversal and complete alternation, therefore, suggesting that improvements in target processing had caused the large improvements in the complete-repetition condition.
Highlights
Working in an attentive and concentrated manner is an important prerequisite for successful behavior in many areas of life, including school and the workplace
Performance did not differ between test reversal and complete alternation, suggesting that improvements in target processing had caused the large improvements in the complete-repetition condition
The individual L scores in each cell of the design were subjected to a three-way Analyses of Variance (ANOVA) for mixed designs with CONDITION, SESSION and TEST PAGE as independent variables
Summary
Working in an attentive and concentrated manner is an important prerequisite for successful behavior in many areas of life, including school and the workplace. Because the results in such tests may have serious consequences for the tested person, these tests should be both highly reliable and highly valid Both the (retest) reliability and the validity of the d2, for example, are curtailed by effects of practice, that is, the fact that repeating the test considerably improves the test results The effects of practice threaten the validity of a test because it is unclear whether practice or high ability has caused a good test result in situations where the practice history of the tested person is unknown (Hagemeister & Westhoff, 2011; Schmidt-Atzert et al, 2004)
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